Beautiful blue skies:
The view from inside:
P goes off-roading around the castle:
The view from the top:
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Every Day Adventure: Middleham Castle
We had such a fun day and enjoyed what's likely one of the last sunny weekends in Yorkshire of the year! We drove up to Masham and had lunch at the Black Sheep Brewery. P had been before...but I hadn't. Their Sunday carvery was delicious...mmmm... roast beef! Then we continued on to Middleham Castle. This was the childhood home of Richard III -- it was built in the 1400's and is amazingly well preserved. Enjoy a few snaps!!!
Beautiful blue skies:
The view from inside:
P goes off-roading around the castle:
The view from the top:
Beautiful blue skies:
The view from inside:
P goes off-roading around the castle:
The view from the top:
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Alfie and the No Good, Very Bad Week - Take Two
Poor little Alfie! When we left for Dublin he had a little limp. While I flew home to DC, P took Alfie to the vet. Poor guy tour his ACL AND had bladder stones.
When I got home, he was having trouble so we had to take him for emergency surgery for his bladder. He'll go in for a full ACL repair on September 27.
He has a long road to recovery, but it'll be made better with his new stroller we're using to take him
around town. How cute is he???
In his cone post-surgery:
Day two post op...at his favorite spot, Baltzerzen's! He made Dogs of Baltzersen's on Instagram!
When I got home, he was having trouble so we had to take him for emergency surgery for his bladder. He'll go in for a full ACL repair on September 27.
He has a long road to recovery, but it'll be made better with his new stroller we're using to take him
around town. How cute is he???
In his cone post-surgery:
Day two post op...at his favorite spot, Baltzerzen's! He made Dogs of Baltzersen's on Instagram!
If You Go: Dublin
It was a quick trip, but fun trip. Here are our recommendations:
Hotels
The Gresham
The Gresham's location was unbeatable - about 2 blocks from O'Connell bridge, it was an easy walk just about anywhere in Dublin - Trinity College, Merrion Square, etc. The hotel was nice - though the bathrooms a bit dated. I would still recommend ($180/night).
Restaurants
The Pigs Ears
This was a fun gastro-pub with a lot of traditional Irish food with a contemporary twist. Their duck fat fries were my favorite item of the meal. I had a beautiful rack of lamb and P had a fish dish that was equally good. A bit pricey, but recommend
The Front Door
This restaurant is in the heart of the Temple Bar area - this is another gastro pub with contemporary Irish food. It's a bit loud (really is a pub!) but the food was excellent. I loved my steak sandwich and P enjoyed his shepard's pie.
Boojum's
If you're craving Chipotle, but don't have Chipotle...Boojum's is the answer!!! It's the closest chain to Chipotle I have found - we saw it in Belfast, but finally tried it in Dublin. It's VERY good! Cheap and delicious!
Things to Do
Merrion Square
My favorite part of Dublin was Merrion Square - where all of the Georgian Architecture surrounds the square. Just love it!
Book of Kells / Trinity College
I loved the beautiful Trinity College Library! Such a historic spot - it's EXACTLY what you think a library should look like! Book of Kells wasn't particularly interesting to me, but if you're into religious history!
Guinness Brewery
The classic thing to do in Dublin. This was very busy with tons of tourists, but it's an interesting tour...and has a very cool visit at the top!
Hotels
The Gresham
The Gresham's location was unbeatable - about 2 blocks from O'Connell bridge, it was an easy walk just about anywhere in Dublin - Trinity College, Merrion Square, etc. The hotel was nice - though the bathrooms a bit dated. I would still recommend ($180/night).
Restaurants
The Pigs Ears
This was a fun gastro-pub with a lot of traditional Irish food with a contemporary twist. Their duck fat fries were my favorite item of the meal. I had a beautiful rack of lamb and P had a fish dish that was equally good. A bit pricey, but recommend
The Front Door
This restaurant is in the heart of the Temple Bar area - this is another gastro pub with contemporary Irish food. It's a bit loud (really is a pub!) but the food was excellent. I loved my steak sandwich and P enjoyed his shepard's pie.
Boojum's
If you're craving Chipotle, but don't have Chipotle...Boojum's is the answer!!! It's the closest chain to Chipotle I have found - we saw it in Belfast, but finally tried it in Dublin. It's VERY good! Cheap and delicious!
Things to Do
Merrion Square
My favorite part of Dublin was Merrion Square - where all of the Georgian Architecture surrounds the square. Just love it!
Book of Kells / Trinity College
I loved the beautiful Trinity College Library! Such a historic spot - it's EXACTLY what you think a library should look like! Book of Kells wasn't particularly interesting to me, but if you're into religious history!
Guinness Brewery
The classic thing to do in Dublin. This was very busy with tons of tourists, but it's an interesting tour...and has a very cool visit at the top!
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Quick Trip to Dublin
We had a very quick, but fun trip to Dublin for Labor Day! Similar to Belfast, a 20 minute flight from Leeds gets your right into the city. We met P's friends from college for the Georgia Tech / Boston College game (Go Tech!). Each year, a college game is played in Dublin and amazingly, the entire city turns out with bars decorated, Irish folks wearing team gear, and lots of rowdy fun. We both thought there was more school spirit in Dublin than we've ever seen in Atlanta.
I did not go to the game, so I used the time to visit even more sites and check out Dublin solo for a day. The next day, P joined me for some more Dublin fun. Excuse the photos, I am not sure my regular photographer was getting the shots he normally takes...so these are from my cell phone camera.
We arrived at the airport and immediately saw GT decorations. Game on!
On my solo day in the city...it poured down rain. The bad news, I was a bit wet. The good news...I saw many of the sites nearly empty. Case in point: St. Patrick's Cathedral:
We took a lovely stroll around Merion Square and saw all of the beautiful Georgian Doors. This made me want to paint my door here in England a bright color!
=
The next day we started the morning with The Book of Kells + Trinity College Library. They have books that were hand carved in stone. Amazing how hard our ancestors worked to transfer knowledge...pre-internet!
We also made a nice stop at Guiness Factory. I am always impressed by the brand experience at spots like this (similar to the BMW Factory in Munich). It even included a taste test:
We had a great trip to Dublin. Admittedly, we loved Belfast more because it was a bit more authentic, but we're becoming serious #travelsnobs
I did not go to the game, so I used the time to visit even more sites and check out Dublin solo for a day. The next day, P joined me for some more Dublin fun. Excuse the photos, I am not sure my regular photographer was getting the shots he normally takes...so these are from my cell phone camera.
We arrived at the airport and immediately saw GT decorations. Game on!
On my solo day in the city...it poured down rain. The bad news, I was a bit wet. The good news...I saw many of the sites nearly empty. Case in point: St. Patrick's Cathedral:
We took a lovely stroll around Merion Square and saw all of the beautiful Georgian Doors. This made me want to paint my door here in England a bright color!
=
The next day we started the morning with The Book of Kells + Trinity College Library. They have books that were hand carved in stone. Amazing how hard our ancestors worked to transfer knowledge...pre-internet!
We also made a nice stop at Guiness Factory. I am always impressed by the brand experience at spots like this (similar to the BMW Factory in Munich). It even included a taste test:
We had a great trip to Dublin. Admittedly, we loved Belfast more because it was a bit more authentic, but we're becoming serious #travelsnobs
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